I decided to enter one of my paintings into the Abbotsford Arts Council’s Women in Art show, opening March 6. It may not be my greatest technical work, but it feels very “now.”
Anyone who knows me knows how deeply I love nature — trail running, hiking, and being immersed in the forest. Since 2010, we’ve been frequent visitors to the McKee Peak and Ledgeview trails, which begin just a kilometre from our home. Our kids have grown up exploring this local treasure.
This month, clearing has begun in the area slated for development. We did what we could to protest, partner with the city, advocate for the trail system, but in the end, the land is simply “too valuable” to make into a super awesome network of over 100 trails. I haven’t yet had the heart to see exactly what has been cut down, but I suspect this beloved nurse tree — a quiet landmark along the trail — sits at the centre of it. I painted two versions of it in November.
I’m sharing a few photos from a family hike past the tree in 2023, taken around the time the trees in that section were first tagged. I remember standing there and wondering: what value does this tree hold to a logger compared to its value within an ecosystem? The richness of this place — the trails, the wildlife, the small unnoticed wonders — is hard to measure, and the loss feels significant.
And yet, the nurse tree also feels like a symbol of resilience. Nature finds a way. It adapts, reclaims, and persists. While our single-track trails may change, we will continue to seek out wild places and new paths to explore.
If you’d like to see the painting, come visit the Women in Art exhibition at the Open Space in Abbotsford. The opening reception is March 6 from 5–7 p.m.
